Chapter 27 Departure

  The Chahar people suffered a crushing defeat just a few months ago, and now they can go to support the Great Ming? Don't be ridiculous.

  It is said that the Xuanfu General has also led his troops to Beijing, and within the Great Wall, the war is in full swing. Di Zhe waits for news every day. The invasion of the Eastern Barbarians into the capital city caused a great stir among the people, and Fan Yongdong and others gave half of their partners and guards a holiday, sending them back home ahead of time, waiting for the war to end before returning.

  The capital city is in a state of chaos, with all sorts of unbelievable news coming out.

  First, the Shaanxi loyalist army arrived in Beijing without anyone to provide them with food or pay. A few days later, nearly 10,000 men and horses suddenly dispersed, lifting their two legs and running back, all escaping back to Shaanxi.

  Then Xuanfu General suffered a great defeat and fled back with several hundred defeated soldiers, never going out again.

  It is said that only Yu Chongzhen's Guanning Iron Cavalry and Mangui's Datong General Army are worthy of a fight.

  The temple is much quieter now. The war has brought fear. Zhangjiakou is the territory of the Great Ming, and now the capital of the Great Ming is under attack.

  A fierce quarrel broke out in the study of Wangshun Pavilion's detached house, and even the guards at the door felt the commotion.

  "At this time, you let me go back and get married! How can I get married?" Zhai Zhe finally couldn't hold back his emotions.

  "This was decided last year, do you want to back out now? How can Miss Fan's family be expected to save face, and how can the Di family stand in this gathering if we don't go through with it?" Di Tang hadn't expected that Di Zhe would dare to defy him and refuse to return home to prepare for the wedding.

  "You're just a commoner! Can you even reach the imperial court?" Zhai Tang sneered at Zhai Zhe, who still refused to listen.

  "After doing so many things, can you sleep well at night?" Di Zhe looked at his brother, "I'm not sleeping well now!"

  "Are you crazy?" Zhai Tang's face was full of astonishment.

  "I want to go beyond the Great Wall!"

  "How dare you! Once you leave the Great Wall, don't come back!"

  Di Zhe's head didn't turn back as he left.

  As soon as he went out, Di Zhe found that it had started snowing in the sky. The delicate snowflakes were falling gently, and a layer of white covered the ground in no time. His boots left faint footprints on the ground. He was finally going to take his own path. Fan Yongdou's merchant caravan dared to venture into Duo Yan Cao Yuan, how much longer would he have to wait?

  Di Tang rushed to the door and shouted loudly: "Where are you going?"

  At the end of November, when the war in Beijing was still not over, Di Zhe set out again beyond the Great Wall. He didn't say that he would never return, but he had already made up his mind to leave this place forever.

  Shan Gu Lao Ying, after Di Zhe finished telling what had happened, Xiao Zhi Yan was dumbfounded.

  "Next year we really have to make a living on our own, I thought of a place to go, what do you think?" Di Zhe took out a piece of sheepskin paper, on which he had simply sketched out a few lines and written the words "Daming", "Chahar", "Tumet" and so on.

  "Where?"

  "You once said, the best horse thief is in Xikou!"

  "Are you going to kill Hu Kou?"

  Di Zhe nodded and said, "That's right. The two major gathering places in the northern border of the Ming Dynasty, Dongkou and Xikou, Zhangjiakou is now relying on the Upper Jurchen people. I believe that the business days of the merchants at Hu Kou are not easy!"

  Xiao's words were bewildering, and he asked: "What are you going to do?"

  "I heard that after the Tumet people were defeated, Orumbay Khan hid in the Hetao grasslands, and I plan to lead my troops to attach ourselves to him!"

  Xiao Zhiyan's eyes widened in shock and he said: "Are you crazy? The Tumet people have just been defeated, and it's hard for them to even survive!"

  "So now is the best time, sending charcoal in snowy weather, it's especially rare!"

  Xiao Zhi's words were cold and mocking: "I'm afraid that's not necessarily the case, the Tumet people only regard Han people as slaves. Have you heard of Zhao Quan?"

  Zhao Quan was a leader of the White Lotus Sect who defected to Mongolia during the Jiajing period of the Ming dynasty. He led tens of thousands of followers to surrender to the Tumet tribe and is believed to be among the first Han Chinese to settle in Mongolia, where they cultivated land and built houses at Fengzhou Beach. Altan Khan favored him greatly, allowing him to develop agriculture on the grasslands, and his contributions were instrumental in the establishment of Guihua City. Later, during the negotiations between Ondan Khan and the Ming dynasty during the Longqing period, Zhao Quan was sent back to the Ming dynasty and executed.

  Zhao Quan should have been a pioneer for Han people to enter the grasslands. Due to the foundation he laid, after his deportation and death, some starving refugees continued to flee to Mongolia to make a living.

  "I know, but I won't rebel against the Great Ming, and the Tumet people aren't as powerful as they were back then!"

  Di Zhe clasped his hands behind his back, his mind made up. This plan had only been a vague notion in his mind, but the invasion of the Jurchen people had awakened him to it.

  In early December, Di Zhe ordered Meng Kang to guard the old camp and wait for news. He had Xiao Zhi carefully select fifty elite cavalrymen from the mountain stronghold and set off westward along the borders of Da Ming and the grasslands through the snow.

  The grassland covered with white snow is desolate, from Zhangba Grassland all the way west, passing through Tumur River, to Liangcheng border, and further west is Helinger. Sha Hu Kou is located between Liangcheng and Helinger, surrounded by mountains and forests, with many bandits. However, in winter, most of the horse thieves will hide in their old camps.

  Di Zhe and others have been walking west along the border of Da Ming for a long time. Sometimes, they can even see the castles built on the steep borders.

  The winter grassland is very quiet, with only the sound of iron hooves on hard snow.

  Xiao Zhiyan was excited all the way, explaining every place they passed to Di Zhe in detail, and it seemed like he had spent many years as a horse thief on this grassland.

  "This is the Xiang Ma Platform!" Xiao Zhisheng pointed to a dilapidated wooden platform on a high ground not far away, which was a settlement built by the Han people on the grassland. Even when they came to the grassland, they could not adapt to the nomadic life like the Mongolians.

  "Altan Khan held a ceremony here that year, accepted the title from the Ming Emperor, and publicly swore to heaven that he would never invade the Ming again. Only then was there trade between Mongolia and the Ming. Last time I passed by, there were still many people here!"

  Before his eyes was nothing but a desolate ruin, and Zhai Zhe couldn't have imagined that it was the place where the storm had gathered years ago.

  After walking west for about five days, a continuous mountain range appeared in sight.

  "Right ahead is Liang City! How come we haven't seen a single Mongolian yurt on the way?" Xiao Zhiyan was also filled with puzzlement.

  Di Zhe smiled and said: "After the war of Guihua, Chahar people also suffered losses. Now we have such a vast grassland in Mo Nan, with vast land and sparse population!"

  "Liangcheng and Helinger have always been a gathering place for thieves! We must be careful when we pass by!" Xiao Zhisheng reminded the horse thief behind him.

  There were some familiar herders among the bandits, who knew the terrain of Liang City very well and led everyone to shuttle through the mountains and forests. Liang City is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with flat grasslands in the middle centered on Taihai, which can be seen clearly from the mountains, and Mongolian yurts are scattered around Taihai.

  A herdsman said in a low voice: "In winter, the ice on Mount Taihai can be broken to provide water for livestock, so many Mongolian tribes gather here!"

  To avoid being discovered by the Chahar tribe and getting into trouble, Di Zhe decided to travel at night and rest in a sheltered valley for a day. Entering Liangcheng territory, the mountains were no longer like the hills around Zhangjiakou, but rather the main peak of Liangcheng, the Manguhan Mountains. Di Zhe looked up from the foot of the mountain, the forest was dense, and even the road to climb the mountain was hard to find.

  "This place is connected to Daqing Mountain all the way to Yingshan, it's extremely suitable for bandit activities!" Xiao Zhiyan said with a mischievous grin.

  "There are no merchant caravans that don't starve the horse thieves!" Zhai Zhe sneered, "If they keep stealing from the Mongols, they will be exterminated sooner or later!"

  Xiao Zhiyan scratched his head and let out a long sigh, saying: "If I had been as clever as you back then, I wouldn't have ended up in Zhangjiakou."

  Di Zhe had always been interested in Xiao Zhi's mysterious past and finally seized the opportunity to ask, "What happened to you back then?"

  "At first, when I was a horse thief in Hohhot, I kidnapped the family of a Mongolian chiliarch. I was chased by Tumet cavalry for seven or eight days, and more than 100 people escaped with me alone. The others probably didn't survive!"

  Di Zhe burst out laughing and said: "If you hadn't gone to Zhangjiakou, how would you have met me?"

  The mountain forest was quiet at night, and fifty people left Liangcheng overnight, passing through the mountains of Helinger.

  Further west is the Yellow River, and Guihua City is about 500-600 miles to the north. This place is already under the nose of the Chahar people, so Di Zhe and others dare not move around randomly, carefully searching for Mongolian tribes in the vicinity.

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